WARNING! This is NOT a recap-based blog. This is an OPINION-BASED blog. In other words, my opinions, thoughts, and feelings about reality tv, music, pop culture, and everything in between. That's right, MY blog, MY point of view. Don't agree? Agree? Either way, tweet me @humorandspice!

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Toxic Friendships - Magnified by Reality Shows

Hello again!!

This week's episode of Real Housewives of New York got me thinking about toxic friendships. You know, those friendships that are much more trouble than they're worth and leave you feeling drained and unappreciated. This time the players were Ramona and Jill (isn't Jill always in this predicament???). They're in Morocco, and decide it's time to sit down and hash out their issues. Now, they each say they've been friends for quite some time (I seem to remember one of them saying 15 years? I could be wrong.), and they both seem to expect the other to beg for forgiveness. Needless to say, neither one actually does. Instead, they both get defensive, launch accusations at each other, and scream/cry/throw temper tantrums like two year olds.

What hit me the hardest about this fight between Jill and Ramona (besides the fact that both of these women are well into their 40s/50s), is that neither one of them were listening to the other. They were hurling insults at each other, but never bothered to listen and/or comprehend what the other was actually saying. That conversation could have actually been productive, but their pride/ego wouldn't allow that to happen. Plus, there's the added incentive of being dramatic and ultimately getting more screen time.

Now let's contrast this with Mob Wives and the fight at Renee's house. I honestly think these women are how they appear on the show and there's little-to-no playing up to the cameras. For some reason, Renee, Drita, Karen, and Carla all seem to truly be that crazy. And I say that with love. I love these ladies (well, maybe not Karen so much), but they take reality show catfights to a whole other level. Who else loved it when Drita took her shoes off??? Best moment of the show so far.

Speaking of Drita, her drama with Karen is especially perplexing. Not because she married Karen's ex, but because Karen can't seem to let it go. Now, depending on who's talking, either Karen and Drita were the best of friends and Drita wasted no time getting with Lee, OR Karen and Drita hadn't spoken in a while and Drita just happened to fall in love with Lee. I'm guessing the truth is somewhere in between. What bugs me about this is that Karen came back to her old 'hood to write her book (and to be on this show), so she pretends to be all buddy buddy with Drita because, let's face it, Drita was practically the only one who would give her the time of day. Then Karen gets in good with Renee and Carla (somewhat, I mean, honestly, Carla doesn't really seem to care about Karen one way or the other), and immediately turns on Drita and recruits Renee to be her back up. Shady.

I really can't stand hearing any more about Carla's boyfriend (who sounds like a pig). Or how Renee talks about everyone's significant others. Enough. We get it. VH1, just skip those parts of the interview segments because we're all aware of these story points. Thanks.

Speaking of VH1, let's talk about Basketball Wives. First, Ms. Meeka. Another shady lady. I, personally, can't stand her already. Anyone that goes around spilling their guts when they first meet someone is suspect, in my opinion. Calm down, gurl! The fact that she met each of the girls one by one, then turned around and reported back based on each clique's agenda just shows how fake she is. Get some integrity and stick to what YOU really think and feel, not what you THINK people want to hear. Maybe my opinion of her is biased due to rumors that she begged to be on the show. Again, if that was the case, she should have just said, "I really want to be here so I'm going to be friends with everyone to get camera time with each girl and both cliques." That, at least, would have been smart.

Moving on to Evelyn vs. Tami - this is gonna be GOOD. First, let me say, Evelyn is wrong for making the "Non F'in Factor" t-shirts. Did anyone else notice there's no "M" in there? The original quote had an "M", and when they talk about it, they all include it, but for some reason it's not on the shirt itself. Also, Tami was rocking a "It Wasn't NOT Funny", a callback to her own fighting words on the Real World. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely Team Tami, but it's seems odd to tell someone not to make a shirt quoting something said in a fight while wearing a shirt quoting something said in a fight. Am I wrong? It's odd, right? Either way, Evelyn shouldn't have tried to capitalize on that one quote, maybe another one would have been less explosive, but just as marketable. Lord knows this show is full of catchphrases. I can't wait to see the Tami/Evelyn drama unfold. These two are a perfect match made in reality heaven.

Point is - these women probably could all get along and be cordial in the real world. But that's not what we want to see, and these ladies know where their bread is buttered. Bring on the drama and get your screen time. Toxic or not, staged or not, it's entertaining, and you know I'll be coming back for more. But if I actually had to deal with this type of drama, I don't know if I could handle it. So props to these ladies! I couldn't do it!